launches

a helicopter without a cabin that launches combat drones

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In February 2022, a Black Hawk helicopter took off, sailed and landed all alone for half an hour without anyone on board. What then seemed like a futuristic demonstration is now quickly becoming a new category of military aircraft. The end of one era and the beginning of another. Europe has been pursuing the dream of a large sixth-generation fighter capable of competing with the American and Chinese programs for years, but the FCAS lockout has once again highlighted the enormous political, industrial and budgetary difficulties that accompany this type of project. While the future of the European fighter jet is blurred between disputes over intellectual property, the distribution of work and rising costs, Airbus has taken advantage of the Berlin air show to submit a proposal much more aligned with the real trends that are transforming current battlefields: a autonomous aircraft, without cabin and designed to operate alongside drones. The contrast is striking because while the great symbol of European air power seems stagnant, the company is betting on technologies that are already demonstrating their value in conflicts such as the one in Ukraine. A helicopter without pilots or cabin. The new U145 is based on the successful H145 helicoptera platform with more than 1,800 examples in service and more than 8.5 million flight hours accumulated worldwide. However, Airbus has completely removed the cabinso that the aircraft cannot be piloted by humans under any circumstances. Instead, it incorporates autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and a set of sensors that will manage the flight independently. The company plans to carry out a first flight with a safety pilot before the end of 2026 and begin entering service at the beginning of the next decade. The philosophy is simple: take advantage of an already proven platform, with a consolidated logistics chain and known maintenance costs, to accelerate the leap towards autonomous operations without having to develop a completely new aircraft from scratch. From transport helicopter to autonomous aerial truck. The U145 has been conceived primarily as a logistics platform capable of operating in dangerous environments where sending human crews poses an increasing risk. With a maximum takeoff weight of 3,800 kilograms and a load capacity close to 1,200 kilogramsincorporates a large folding front door, a folding loading platform and a reinforced floor to facilitate the transport of supplies. Airbus imagines it supplying advanced units, carrying out emergency missions, supporting operations in remote areas or acting in scenarios where the threat of drones, missiles or electronic warfare makes the use of conventional helicopters increasingly difficult. It is a vision that fits with the conclusions that many armed forces are extracting from Ukraine: Logistics has become one of the priority objectives of the modern battlefield. The real bet: mothership. However, the most revealing feature of the project is not its autonomy or its cargo capacity, but the role that Airbus reserves for it in the future. The U145 is being developed to perform as mother platform capable of transporting and launching drones for reconnaissance, surveillance, attack or loitering munitions. Airbus is already working on this concept together with MBDA, one of the main European missile manufacturers, within the ecosystem of the called “launched effects”. The idea is to use relatively cheap and expendable aircraft to deploy swarms of autonomous systems on the battlefield. In other words, while Europe discusses how to build a sophisticated sixth-generation fighter, Airbus is betting on an architecture where an increasing part of the combat will be carried out. by drones launched from autonomous platforms that do not even need pilots. Ukraine as a laboratory. The appearance of U145 cannot be understood without observing what is happening in Ukraine. There the drones have completely transformed the way to fight, from reconnaissance missions to the destruction of armored vehicles, anti-aircraft systems and logistics centers. The conflict has shown that relatively inexpensive platforms can generate disproportionate strategic effects and that pilot survival in highly contested environments is increasingly complicated. Airbus, in fact, is not the only company that has reached this conclusion. Similar projects appear in the United States like the MQ-72C derived from Lakota, the U-Hawk based on the Black Hawk or Boeing’s plans to evolve the Chinook into autonomous configurations. The difference is that Europe seemed focused on chasing the next big fighter plane while the rest of the world explored new ways to automate warfare. European strategic autonomy takes another path. There is no doubt, although Airbus insist In that the U145 does not respond to any specific national program, its appearance coincides with a moment in which Europe seeks to reduce its technological and military dependence on the United States. The autonomous helicopter fits perfectly into this strategy because it takes advantage of a European platform, is integrated into a European industrial ecosystem and allows develop own capabilities in one of the most promising sectors of current defense. The implicit message is difficult to ignore: the great European fighter may be increasingly further away to materialize, but the continental industry continues to look for ways to maintain its military relevance. And while sixth-generation projects are consumed by endless negotiations, Airbus appears to have identified an alternative path much closer to the reality of future conflicts: autonomous aircraft, without a cabin, connected in a network and capable of deploying combat drones where sending a pilot no longer makes sense. Image | Airbus In Xataka | The future European fighter in which Spain participates has received the worst news. And it comes directly from France In Xataka | Airbus has just made the most autonomous commercial aircraft in the world fly. Your goal: 22 hours straight without a stopover

MSI launches the world’s first desktop gaming PC with an AI agent in the form of a ‘hologram’

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Computex 2026 has already ended, but it has left us with several interesting announcements. We already told you a few days ago how MSI had presented several monitorsincluding the first triple-resolution QD-OLED gaming monitor ever manufactured. The same manufacturer has also done something quite curious: it has put an artificial intelligence agent in a gaming PC. And he did it with the appearance of a ‘hologram’. An AI that will help you configure your PC without touching anything A few months ago we brought you an analysis of MSI’s first MEG Visiona gaming PC with an RTX 5090 and where we had a huge screen crowning the tower that gave access to a lot of different functions. The new MSI PC goes in that same direction, although in this case combining an AI agent that runs inside the computer and that has a much more physical presence. Instead of a conventional screen like the previous device had, this MEG Vision X 2 AI⁺ has a cylindrical screen that is integrated within the chassis. In this way, MSI’s AI (called LuckyClaw) will be there in the form of a kind of ‘hologram’ that gives the device a very futuristic look. Be careful, because it is not something merely cosmetic. This artificial intelligence responds to natural voice commandsso it is not necessary to interact with it physically. In this way, we can be immersed in the middle of the game and change things such as RGB lighting, monitor settings or even computer performance profiles without touching anything. What more can we expect from this team? In addition to the above, it will also bring the best NVIDIA graphics card, an Intel Core Ultra processor, WiFi 7 connectivity and a liquid cooling system that is designed to be very quiet even if we push the equipment hard. At the moment, it has no price or release date. New mini PCs and an ‘All in One’ In addition to the previous PC, MSI has also presented other options more oriented to the world of work and productivity, but designed for users looking for equipment that takes up very little space. There we can place the Pro Max Edge AI 11M, an ultra-compact 4-liter device that comes with AMD processors and integrated graphics cards. This, in fact, can be configured with up to 128 GB of unified memory, ideal for working with AI models locally. In addition to this, it has also presented the Pro Max 27TP Z 8MG, an ‘All in One’ device (i.e. It’s all integrated into the screen). It is a computer that even integrates a webcam in a monitor that has a refresh rate of 120 Hz and has an AMD Ryzen 7 255 processor inside. Finally, we also have the new computers that make up the Cubi Nuc AI WCG line. They are very compact devices, designed for both the work world and the home environment. It is an interesting alternative for those users who do not have space for a large PC nor do they want a laptop. Some interesting PCs with a discount from the MSI store These devices are not yet available to buy, as we said above, but there are very interesting options in the MSI store now that we have a 10% discount on everything in it, both complete devices and peripherals. Below we leave you a couple of examples. MSI MPG Trident AS AI If you are looking for a gaming PC, this MPG Trident AS AI is a good option right now. It is a device with an Intel Core Ultra 5 225F as a processor, 16 GB of DDR5 type RAM and a 1 TB SSD. In addition, it has an RTX 5060 Ti as a graphics card. If we take into account the current price of RAM and SSDsit is a top option with the discount it has: it is reduced to 1,399 euros, but with the code ‘COMPUTEXMSI‘ stays in 1,259.10 euros. MSI MPG Trident AS AI 2NVM5-074EU | Gaming PC The price could vary. We earn commission from these links If you want to accompany the previous computer with an ultrawide monitorthis MAG401QR is a top option. It has an IPS panel, 155 Hz and a refresh rate of 1 ms, making it a very interesting option for video games. In addition, it has a good UWQHD resolution (3,440 x 1440 pixels), so it also It is ideal for working with several windows open at the same time. With the same coupon that we indicated above you stay in 323.10 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | MSI In Xataka | DDR4 or DDR5? What RAM to choose so as not to pay even more than necessary in the middle of the price crisis In Xataka | Faster (and more expensive) is not always better: the big difference between buying an SSD and an HDD for backups

Spain launches radio frequency detectors to hunt penguins and AI

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June and July are two months that almost 300,000 students in Spain have marked on their calendars, as they face the University Access Test (PAU). And in some classrooms they also face it with extra surveillance measures for those who copy. We are referring to radio frequency detectors, small devices designed to hunt down hidden devices that some students could use to copy, especially if there is AI involved. What exactly are they? They are not signal inhibitors, but detectors. In this sense, a jammer blocks communications, while these devices only locate them. Héctor Esteban, professor in the area of ​​Signal Theory and Communications at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, counted to El Español that are electromagnetic radiation detectors costing about 10 or 12 euros that track WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G, 4G and 5G networks in a very broad spectrum. When they detect a nearby signal, they warn with a beep or vibration. Stephen himself describes them such as devices as small “as a pen”, that the teacher can carry in his pocket in vibration mode so that the alert goes unnoticed by the rest of the classroom. What are they aiming for? The objective is not so much conventional mobile phones as technology that is difficult to see with the naked eye. The vice-rector of Students of the Complutense University, Rosa de la Fuente, counted that “we are concerned about everything that could be used to commit fraud”, such as micro-earphones and AI glasses generative, since they are devices with which we can easily obtain responses from another person abroad or from any chatbot. Where are they used? The measure does not currently apply throughout Spain. The six public universities of Madrid launched the detectors at the beginning of the month for their more than 42,000 students. Added to these are communities such as Galicia, Murcia, Aragon, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Andalusia, the Balearic Islands and the Basque Country, among others. The devices are not in all classrooms at the same time. Cristina Moreno, vice-rector of the University of the Balearic Islands assured that the devices rotate through the different locations, but not necessarily during all the tests. What happens if the alert goes off. If the detector vibrates, the exam is “flagged” and the student continues taking the exam as normal. Afterwards, it is the court of headquarters that analyzes the case and decides. However, the sanctions are not identical throughout Spain, because each community sets its own framework. In Madrid, according to counted de la Fuente, three levels are distinguished: a minor fault leaves the exam marked but preserves the grade; a serious one, such as having your cell phone on, can cancel that exam; and a very serious one, such as the active use of a earpiece, can invalidate the entire Selectivity. In other locations the criteria is more severe, as is the case of the Polytechnic of Valencia, where in some cases it is enough for them to find a mobile phone on them, even if it is turned off, to fail the subject. It is not a perfect method. Jesús Alcalde, cybersecurity specialist, counted to The Objective that the scope is limited, because the devices only alert active signals, can give false positives in full classrooms and do not always allow them to prove themselves that there has been copying. Its greatest value, in reality, is as a deterrent. Héctor Esteban illustrated it counting that, in one of the first tests, it was enough to announce that the detector was going to be passed for fifteen students to get up to hand over the cell phone that they should not have brought. Why is it coming just now? The trigger is the emergence of generative AI, which has turned the old problem of copying into something much more complex to deal with. However, the universities themselves recognize that this is a pilot project that they will have to review each course, because at the end of the day the technology for cheating advances as quickly as the tools to detect it. And now what. Radiofrequency covers only part of the problem, and many in the academic field believe that the underlying solution is not in the devices, but in changing the way of evaluating. Stephen himself point towards oral exams, common in countries like Italy, or the in-person defense of papers. Cover image | Ben Mullins and Alberto Ortega (Europa Press) In Xataka | Someone has created the website “is AI profitable anymore?” to answer the question of our time in real time

Blue Origin had a plan of 12 launches for this year. A fireball at Cape Canaveral just changed everything

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Bad news for Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company. And his New Glenn rocket It exploded this morning into a huge fireball while conducting a ground test at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The accident, which fortunately left no injuries, is a good blow for the company in his race to compete with SpaceXjust when this was going to be his definitive breakout year. That has passed. Around 9:00 p.m. local time (3:00 a.m. on Friday on the Spanish peninsula), the New Glenn exploded during a ‘hotfire’, a test in which the rocket engines are turned on while the vehicle remains anchored to the platform, without taking off. The objective of this test is to check the operation of the engines before a launch. Blue Origin itself He spoke on his X account of an “anomaly” and confirmed that all personnel were located and safe. According to collect The Guardian, the fireball destroyed the platform and the orange glow was seen more than 180 kilometers away, while residents of nearby towns noticed tremors in their homes. A year that was going to be the year of takeoff. The blow is especially hard because of the moment it arrives. Blue Origin had marked 2026 as the year to finally gain pace. Its CEO, Dave Limp, even stated in an interview with Ars Technica that the company could reach double digits in launches this year, until matching its production rate of 12 rockets, and even considering reaching 24 if manufacturing continued to improve. They also mentioned the 12 launches in their request to the FAA to operate from Cape Canaveral. The problem is that it was more of an ambitious goal than a realistic forecast, since the New Glenn has started the year without having flown again since November and experiencing several setbacks. The explosion has now turned that goal into a chimera. Bezos’ reaction. The founder of Blue Origin took the drama out of the matter, counting in Elon Musk also reacted to the event briefly: “Very unfortunate. Rockets are difficult.” Why it is important. The New Glenn It is the key piece with which the company wants to confront the dominance of SpaceX, and it is also called to play a central role in NASA’s Artemis programwhich seeks to return astronauts to the Moon. Just a few days before the explosion, the agency had awarded Blue Origin a contract to participate in the construction of a lunar base. The moment could not have been worse. A streak of setbacks. Blue Origin has accumulated a series of catastrophic misfortunes. On its third flight, in April, the rocket managed to land its reusable booster on a barge at sea, but its upper stage failed and failed to place the satellite it was transporting for AST SpaceMobile into orbit, which ended up falling and disintegrating in the atmosphere. That failure sparked an investigation by the FAA, the US air regulator, which just last week had given the rocket the green light to fly again. Thursday’s test was precisely the preparation of its fourth mission, in which it was going to deploy satellites of the network Leo from Amazona direct competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink. Amazon clarified that none of those satellites were on board at the time of the explosion. Damage assessment. Both the FAA and NASA spoke out quickly. The regulator pointed out that the test was outside the activities it licenses and that it did not affect air traffic. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, on the other hand counted that “spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing a new heavy-lift capability is extraordinarily difficult.” The agency promised to support a thorough investigation and, above all, to evaluate how what happened affects its lunar programs. And now what. What we will now see is how Blue Origin rewrites its calendar. NASA was counting on New Glenn to launch the first missions to its lunar base this year, and the agency itself has acknowledged that they still do not know how this accident will affect the mission with Artemis. On the other hand, SpaceX has its own problems with the Starship, also under review by the FAAwhile preparing a historic IPO. The terrain is quite hot. Cover image | NASA Space Flight In Xataka | SpaceX seemed unreachable in its race to the Moon. Blue Origin is proving that anything is possible

Starlink has been ruining astronomers’ nights for years. Now it turns out that their launches are leaving their mark on the climate

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Much has been said about the great light pollution that generate the Starlink satellites from SpaceX. However, not so much has been said about something that, if we think about it, is much more evident. Air pollution derived from launches. Any space launch, in fact, can generate this type of contamination. However, satellite trains require such a large number of launches that it is not unusual for them to be of particular concern to scientists today. 15,000 satellites and counting. A team of British and American scientists has carried out Recently a study brought this problem to the fore and predicted what the effects could be in the short term. This investigation indicates that there are currently around 15,000 telecommunications satellites in orbit, more than 10,000 of which belong to SpaceX. This represents three times as many satellites as in 2020 and the worst thing is that the number continues to increase. As a consequence, according to the simulations of these researchers, by 2029, these satellites could account for 40% of the atmospheric pollution derived from space activity. Also have calculated that by then this sector will be releasing around 870 tons of soot into the atmosphere annually. It would be more or less the same amount released by all cars in the United Kingdom, so action must be taken as soon as possible. Launch and reentry problems. The two key points at which these trains of satellites will put our planet’s climate on the ropes are launch and re-entry. With the first, a large amount of black carbon. These are fine carbon particles that come from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Regarding reentry, it mainly releases aluminum oxides. The satellites must be changed every 5 years. Later, when orbital conditions are favorable, this re-entry can occur, the price for which for the planet is also very expensive. The effects. Black carbon is harmful to the Earth’s climate on two levels. On the one hand, the particles that make it up have a great capacity to retain the heat of the Sun. That is why they play a very important role in the global warming of our planet. On the other hand, they can affect cloud formation in two different ways. Sometimes they prevent their formation, causing droughts, and other times they trigger extreme rainfall. Regarding aluminum oxides, can damage the ozone layerwith all the harmful effects that this entails. The place matters. The main problem with the release of these polluting substances is that it occurs in the highest layers of the atmosphere. The contamination at this height, if space activity did not exist, would be residual. However, the launches deposit that black carbon there, which remains for 2 to 3 years, retaining heat and affecting the clouds. That is why black carbon derived from space activity is estimated to have a much greater effect on the climate than that of ships, cars or power plants, for example. What is to come is very dangerous. It is said that Elon Musk wants to launch a million satellites into space. This is possibly an exaggerated figure. But it is clear that SpaceX has enormous objectives set. In fact, already It is even looking for launch platforms outside the United Statesbecause in his native country there is no room for such ambition. To all this we must add that other companies have increasingly ambitious objectives with their own satellite trains. This is, for example, the case of Amazon with Leo. The situation can become very worrying if alternatives are not sought, such as less polluting fuels for launches or more durable satellites that require fewer re-entries. Science will probably take us there at some point; but, in the meantime, the consequences for the planet will become worse and worse. We have time to solve it, but we must act now. Images | Gwendolyn Kurzen In Xataka | In 2018, Elon Musk put his own car into orbit. Eight years later it is still circling the Earth

Android 17 launches Pause Point, a function to save us from addictive apps. It is the paradox of the arsonist firefighter

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Among all the news announced by Google a few days ago, without a doubt Gemini Intelligence It was the one that attracted the most attention, but it was not the only one. Android 17 also releases other changes Among which a function called ‘Pause Point’ caught my attention, an option that promises to save us from infinite scrolling by making us stop and think for a few seconds. When I discovered what Pause Point was, I did just that, stopped to think for a moment and realized the ironic of the situation. What is Pause Point “Have you ever spent 45 minutes scrolling and suddenly you realize that you don’t remember why you opened the phone?” This is how Google presents this new function that will arrive with Android 17 and that follows the line of others like Digital Wellbeing that was released with Android 9. Until now, if we wanted to limit the use of certain apps we could set timers or even block access completely, but according to Google this does not solve the problem: timers can be postponed and blocking sometimes makes it impractical if we need that app for something important. What they propose now is another different approach: when you open an app that usually distracts you, Pause Point is activated and makes you stop for 10 seconds to ask yourself “Why am I here?” During this break you can do a small breathing exercise or open the app, but setting a timer of 5, 15 or 30 minutes. It also offers you other apps to focus on, such as one for audiobooks. It makes sense: we have internalized certain patterns so much that we pick up our cell phone and open apps for no apparent reason, out of pure muscle memory. If we want to completely disable Pause Point, it is necessary to restart the phone. The goal is to make you stop and think before anything else. It makes sense and is something we have talked about before: we have internalized certain patterns so much, that we pick up our cell phone and open apps for no apparent reason, by Pure muscle memory. The arsonist who sells fire extinguishers In 2017 we were already talking about what was being set up an industry that promised to cure us of mobile addiction. There are all kinds of solutions that promise to reduce our screen time, from boring cell phones that make us use them lesseven accessories that They prevent us from opening certain apps. What is striking is when Those who offer the cure are the same ones who have created the problem. Recently, a judge in the United States has said that Meta, TikTok and Google They are guilty of having deliberately designed their products to generate addiction among young people, with functions such as autoplay or infinite scroll. Google defended itself arguing that “this case misinterprets YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social network.” It is true that the concept of “addictive” infinite scroll was born with apps like Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram, but let’s not forget that Google entered fully into this formula with YouTube Shorts and one is no less guilty for having committed the “crime” later than the rest. Google is not the only company that is offering the solution to a problem that they themselves are fueling. Instagram and TikTok also have features to help users disconnect from the app, but without leaving the appclear. As long as the metric that controls is usage time, these “detox” functions will be little more than a cosmetic patch in a system designed so that we never let go of our cell phone. One thing must be clear and that is that the business of these apps lies in Let us spend as much time as possible on them. Only then do we see more advertising and buy more products. We live in the attention economy and, as long as the metric that controls is the time of use, these “detox” functions will be little more than a cosmetic patch in a system designed so that we never let go of the mobile. Images | Google In Xataka | The psychology of doomscrolling: the trap our brain is programmed to fall into again and again

The list of space launches is collapsed. Meanwhile, SpaceX has done two in a single day

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More and more public and private space companies are launching into space. Most are commercial, often satellite-related. There are so many events of this type that launch platforms are beginning to become saturated and many companies are beginning to look for alternatives, such as launches from the sea. Despite this situation, SpaceX has just launched two Starlink satellites on the same day. 19 hours difference. Last Tuesday, April 14, Elon Musk’s space company carried out two launches of rockets loaded with Starlink satellites: one at 5:23 am EDT and another at 00:29 EDT. With the first launch, 29 Starlink satellites were put into orbit and with the second 25. Favor treatment? In 2025, the Donald Trump Government announced its intention to relax space regulationsthus streamlining licenses for releases. A year earlier, when Elon Musk showed himself as one of the main supporters of the now president during his electoral campaign, this topic was already mentioned on several occasions. The CEO of SpaceX had expressed interest in which the Federal Aviation Administration accelerated the processing of licenses for its launches. Therefore, despite the fact that Musk and Trump’s relations are not the best currently, it could be thought that he has had this possibility due to favored treatment. Although it doesn’t seem like the case. The strategy. In reality, the easing of space regulations does not fall solely on SpaceX. Many licenses can be obtained more quickly. But this requires a good strategy. To begin with, when a launch is made it is necessary to stop maritime and air traffic for a time to avoid accidents. This should be done for an optimal amount of time.without putting anyone in danger, but in a way that does not slow down transport too much. Therefore, it is not viable to make two launches in a row in the same place, even if they are licensed. To avoid this problem, Elon Musk made his two launches on Tuesday from two different points: Florida and California. Thus, problems are avoided. The more the better (at least for Musk). Repeat, repeat and repeat. That is Elon Musk’s maxim. With Starshipfor example, has carried out many test launches until its operation is optimized. There have been explosions, but also achievements. The key is to rehearse over and over again. With Starlink, SpaceX aims to send tens of thousands of satellites into space. Therefore, launches cannot be spaced out over time, especially now that they have other companies on their heels. Elon Musk needs these strategies, which for him are plausible, but which give a lot to think about about the possible lack of ethics and the inequality that exists between some space companies and others. Image | US Space Force photo, Gwendolyn Kurze In Xataka | Ukraine’s military has a problem almost as important as Russia: Starlink belongs to Elon Musk

Ryanair launches an advertisement at the inauguration of its new hangar

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The airline opens in Madrid-Barajas its largest hangar in Europebut he has also taken advantage of the showcase to send a warning to the Government: if airport taxes continue to rise, growth in Spain will continue to fall. The crossing with Aena is still validand the airline seems to have its priorities very clear. new hangar. This week Ryanair opened the doors of its new maintenance center in Madrid-Barajas. With 22,000 square meters and capacity for seven aircraft, it is the largest hangar in its entire European network, an investment of 25 million euros that, according to The company will generate 700 qualified jobs among engineers, mechanics and technical personnel. The space, previously operated by Iberia, brings the total number of Ryanair maintenance lines at the airport itself to eight. The underlying message. The company has also taken advantage of the inauguration to launch a new offensive against the current airport policy. Its CEO, Eddie Wilson, warned that Ryanair’s ability to continue investing and growing in Spain “has practically hit its ceiling”, attributing this to the deterioration of the country’s competitiveness. The event was attended by the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who thanked the airline for its commitment to the capital and was in favor of reducing burdens on the operator. Growth. According to Wilson, this summer the airline will barely grow 0.5% in Spain, compared to 11% in Morocco or 9% in Italy, markets that it considers direct competitors of Spanish tourism. Furthermore, the company has already cut three million jobs in two years in the country. For Wilson, the question is simple: “Why invest in additional capacity if prices are going up and you can invest in other places where they are going down?” shared The Spanish. The target of criticism: Aena. The low cost has been in tension with the airport manager for months. Ryanair reproaches that Aena’s last rate increase, 6.5%, already had effects on traffic at regional airportsand warns that the proposal to increase rates by an additional 21% (plus inflation) in the next five years could compromise the competitiveness of the entire network. Wilson pointed out He also stated at the inauguration that large airports such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Malaga and Alicante are going to be expanded “at an exorbitant cost” to, in his opinion, justify these increases, when the growth in traffic could be absorbed without the need for new infrastructure or increased rates. However, Wilson himself recognized to El Español that with Aena “they work well operationally.” Pressure. The inauguration of the hangar comes at a time of strong tension between Ryanair and the Spanish administrations on several fronts. The most recent confrontation is the fine of 107 million euros imposed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for the collection of hand luggagewhich the airline considers illegal and has taken to the European Commission. In this context, Wilson’s speech also works as a pressure lever: the airline remembers its weight (62 million annual passengers, 109 aircraft in 11 bases, a total declared investment of 11,000 million euros in Spain) to demand more favorable conditions. What can happen now. If Aena rates continue to rise, Ryanair has few incentives to grow at regional airports and has hinted that cuts could also come this winter at some large airfields. The opening of the Barajas hangar, and the Seville maintenance centershows that the airline has no intention of leaving Spain, but that it is reorienting where and how much it grows. Cover image | Markus Winkler In Xataka | Global air traffic has a problem: Ukraine and Iran have created a funnel that is driving up prices

The AI ​​race is no longer about who has the most powerful model. Who launches the easiest and safest OpenClaw

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2026 began with an earthquake in the world of AI, and it did not come from any of the big technology companies, but from an unknown programmer and his open source project OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot and Moltbot). Not even two months have passed and we can say that the boom of this AI agent is reconfiguring the AI ​​career, causing more and more companies to jump on the bandwagon. The last one was Perplexity. Personal Computer. a month ago, Perplexity announced Computerwhich was a cloud-based tool capable of orchestrating agents using various models. The next step is Personal Computeryour own OpenClaw. can be left running on a Mac Mini and control it from another device, such as a mobile phone, exactly the same as OpenClaw, but with a simpler interface that does not require technical knowledge. Further user-friendly. Another key aspect is that they focus on security, one of the delicate points of OpenClaw. Perplexity claims that with Personal Computer, “Every sensitive action requires your approval. Every action is logged. There’s an off switch.” At the moment Personal Computer is not available yet, but if you want to try it before anyone else you can sign up for the waiting list. NVIDIA NemoClaw. Which is the most valuable company in the world has taken good note of the success of OpenClaw and a couple of days ago they announced that they will launch their own open source platform for enterprise AI agents, they will call it NemoClaw. This announcement is also important because it places NVIDIA in a position of direct competition against companies like Anthropic, OpenAI or Perplexity. This changes its position from a hardware supplier to a software competitor. and OpenAI…The project had not even been three months old when OpenAI, not only bought it, but also hired its creator Peter Steinberger. It was not the only one who bid to achieve the viral success of the moment, Meta also tried, but OpenAI was the one that won the bid. Stenberger said the project would continue to remain “open and independent.” This case is a good example of two things: how far a person can go with a good AI idea and how difficult, if not impossible, it is to compete in an ecosystem in which the competition is some of the largest and most valuable companies in the world. David against Goliath. The agentic AI race. We spent a good part of 2025 watching AI agents take their first steps, many times with quite mediocre results. It was clear that agentic AI was getting a lot betterbut I don’t think anyone expected that the first viral hit would be carried out by an independent and open source project. OpenClaw not only succeeded, it has launched a new race in AI, one that seeks the ultimate custom AI agents. OpenClaw has two barriers to entry, on the one hand requiring certain technical knowledge and on the other security. It is a very powerful agent, but sometimes unpredictable. Hence, Perplexity is appealing precisely to improve these two aspects. We’ll see who will be next. In Xataka | Social networks were born for humans: Meta has just bought one designed for AI agents Image | Pexels

Lockheed has created an underwater drone that clings to ships like a lamprey. And when released, it launches torpedoes

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The lamprey is a fish that has survived 360 million years thanks to a simple strategy: sticking to its prey to suck its blood. Lockheed Martin has taken that idea literally to name its new weapon, and the analogy is quite literal. The new thing from Lockheed is called Lamprey Multi-Mission Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (MMAUV). It is an underwater drone just over 7 meters long, capable of traveling attached to an allied ship or submarine with a lamprey-like system. While attached to the host ship, it can recharge its batteries using its built-in hydrogen generator. Stealth or attack The Lamprey MMAUV does practically everything, although it is primarily designed for covert missions. It can remain on the seabed, monitoring the enemy without being detected thanks to its acoustic signature profile. practically invisible when sonar. When the time comes to act, the Lamprey can do almost anything: it deploys decoys to confuse the opponent, it is equipped with anti-submarine torpedoes and, if it rises to the surface, it can also launch aerial drones. What makes the Lamprey especially striking is that it concentrates in a single system capabilities that until now were distributed across different platforms: surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, deception, attack and aerial reconnaissance. It can operate in a swarm coordinating with other unmanned systems. And it can do so autonomously, making decisions without direct human intervention. Autonomous submarines The Lamprey will not be the United States’ first unmanned underwater vehicle. There are antecedents like Boeing Orca submarinewith the difference that it cost eight years and 885 million dollars to develop it, all so that today it is not clear if it will end up becoming a program in the US Navy. The Lamprey has been funded internally, which Lockheed vice president Paul Lemmo said has allowed them to “iterate at lightning speed and deliver to the Navy a truly multi-purpose weapon that detects, disrupts, deceives and attacks on its own.” Furthermore, he presumes that Its cost is significantly lower than that of other manned platforms. But the United States is not the only power exploring unmanned vehicles. China has been developing its own fleet of underwater drones for some time and at the military parade in September 2025 presented the AJX002an unmanned underwater vehicle between 18 and 20 meters capable of operating autonomously, laying mines and networking with other attack systems. In Xataka | The US wants to give up bringing the most valuable samples collected on Mars. Lockheed promises to do it for less than half Image | Lockheed

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